Hot-shooting South Harrison hit six of its first eight field goal attempts to forge an early double-digit lead and never looked back en route to a 63-30 victory over Lincoln in Big 10 girls basketball action Tuesday night at South Harrison.
Senior guard Desiree Evans poured in 23 points and forward Jennalea Rose contributed 17 points and nine rebounds to lead the Hawks. Guard Kayla Lawrence chipped in with 10.
Veteran South Harrison coach Joe Johnson was pleased with his team's play.
"I think tonight was a carry over of how hard this team has worked in practice," Johnson said. "This is the hardest working team I've had here in awhile.
"But I have to admit I was surprised by the way we shot the ball. I hope we can keep that up."
Evans and Rose were especially effective, combining to hit 18 of 34 shots. Evans did most of her damage from the outside (three treys) while Rose got most of her points in the paint area.
The Hawks led 16-1 after one quarter and held a 20-point lead by the 5:26 mark of the second period when Evans buried a 22-footer from beyond the key area to make it 24-4.
"They just shot lights out, especially early in both halves," said first-year Lincoln coach David Ray. "We just couldn't stop those two (Evans and Rose).
"But once we started executing our offense in the third quarter, I thought we played a lot better. We're just too young of a team to dig a hole like that and expect to come back."
The Cougars (0-1) were hampered by 26 turnovers, 18 in the first half.
Forward Brandi Brown, despite battling foul problems, led the Lincoln attack with nine points and seven rebounds. Freshman forward Samantha Scott came off the bench to add six points.
"I thought we had great energy tonight," Johnson said. "We're not real big, so we'll be pressing and running a lot more than we have in the past."
South Harrison will visit Philip Barbour Thursday while Lincoln travels to Lewis County the same evening.
Sports writer Greg Talkington can be reached at 626-1444 or by e-mail at gtalkington@exponent-telegram.com
